An adult female Minke whale (Balaenoptera
acutorostrata) measuring 25 feet and 10 tons and estimated to be 15 years
old stranded on the coast of Washington in 1986. Dr. Debbie Duffield of
Portland State University and the NorthWest Regional Marine Mammal Stranding
Network salvaged the whale and prepared its skeleton. In 1998 she transferred
the skeleton to New Mexico State University and since 2000 the skeleton has been
mounted in the Vertebrate Museum of the Biology Department in the basement of
Foster Hall. The museum's collections are used in teaching and research
but include no public displays. Completion of a new addition to Foster
Hall in 2007 provided a new home for the whale where it is now safely on
permanent public display for all visitors to see. Below are posted
pictures of the move and the re-mounting of the skeleton. Click on thumbnails
for enlargements.

Minkes are usually solitary whales. They are found nearly worldwide,
sustained by krill, squid, and schooling fishes, and live to 50 years. Sometimes
diving for 25 minutes to a depth of 130 feet, they can attain speeds of 21 mph,
although usually their dives are not this spectacular. Their 152 decibel song
may be used as sonar. Vestigial hip bones are a legacy of their terrestrial
ancestry. Fossils and DNA document that whales evolved from even-toed ungulates
in the Eocene 55 million years ago. Minkes are named after a Norwegian whaler,
infamous for illegally harvesting these smallest of baleen (filter-feeding)
whales once the industry extirpated all of its more lucrative larger cousins.

Above: The Minke skeleton as it arrived
in 1998. The large bone on the left is the jaw of a blue whale.